Into Bidar

A rickety bus ride from Hyderabad dropped us off at the historic town of Bidar. Perched close to the border of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, Bidar today is a bustling town. Having served as the capital of the Bahamani dynasty in the past, it is steeped in history. Sadly its impressive fort ruins and history remain rather forgotten, while it’s precious age old craft – Bidri, is now its major claim to fame.

At first glance, Bidar seems like any other noisy, dusty little Indian town. People and buses whiz by and vehicles honk away noisily. It’s only later that we notice the fort walls in the backdrop, standing stoic, with the town settled all around it. It stirs up a weird sense of the future mingling with the past (surely the Sultans wouldn’t approve of its present state!).

Little stores flaunting gigantic Bidriware greet us all around. We visit a workshop situated along the periphery of the crumbling fort walls. We can’t get enough of the old ruins though, and stand glued…gasping in marvel, while the artisans chisel away nonchalantly. Forcing our eyes off the ancient walls, we walk into the workshop that gleams with its silver and black merchandise. 

 

Once inside, the rhythmic hammering of the silver slowly drowns all other noise. The artisans with their heads bent over, are completely engrossed in etching and chiseling magic into their wares. After a  full tour of the workshop, we feel  ‘all educated’ about  Bidri craft and its process.

The casting of alloy, carving and chiseling of designs, the hammering of silver in the tiny grooves, are all a tedious process. And then there’s the fascinating black soil ingredient from the Bidar Fort that has special chemical properties. Being away from sunlight and rain for hundreds of years, it is used as an oxidizing agent in the craft process. Chatting with the craftsmen, we gather a little trivia on the soil. Each goes with a different theory though. "No one really knows what makes this soil unique”. One suggests, “Back in the days of the Sultanate, copper coins were made in a section of the Fort. Powdered metal seeped down to the soil, giving it its oxidizing property over time”. Another claims it’s because ‘weapons were stored underground in the fort’.

We also found that there is no mass production of Bidriware, for the Bidar Fort soil is limited. Once this soil is depleted, the gleam of the silver and the rhythm of the chisel and file too will die.

Soon our short trip draws to an end and we realize that the town of Bidar, with its enormous Fort, the Rangin Mahal, Bahamani tombs, Mohamad Gawan Madarsa and the Chowbara  is an absolute must see. With not enough time to spare, we grudgingly board our bus back. We know we’ll return soon enough though… all that splendid 15^th century heritage is just too much to resist!

Bidri Craft ~ Waat eet ees?

Bidri is the craft of inlaying pure silver in a blackened alloy of zinc and copper. The craft gets its name from the Bidar district of Karnataka, where it is practiced. It originated in Iran (Persia) and came to India in the 14th century.

The significance of the craft lies not only in its beauty, history and production technique, but also in a special ingredient- the soil from the Bidar Fort. The black soil from the Bidar Fort has special chemical properties. The soil has been away from sunlight and rain for hundreds of years and is used as an oxidizing agent. For this, the craft obtained the ‘Geographical Indication (G.I.)’ tag to certify that it cannot be made anywhere else except Bidar. Despite the GI tag, the craft is on the wane due to a sharp rise in raw material prices – the price of silver has risen three-fold in the past 4 years, forcing a gradual decline in demand for Bidriware.

Bidri Process

Casting the alloy: A mix of soil, castor oil and resin is used to prepare a mould, in which the molten metal alloy of zinc and copper (in the ratio of 16:1) is poured to form the product base.

Since the surface of the casting is rough, a file or sandpaper is used to smoothen it.

       

Drawing the design: Copper sulphate is applied on the surface, which causes it to become temporarily black in colour. This makes it easy for the craftsman to draw the designs clearly on the black surface. The design is drawn using a metal stylus.

 

Engraving the design: Craftsmen then use a chisel to carve out this design.

        

Inlaying:  Inlay work is of two types - sheet work or wire work, depending on the design. Sheets or wires of pure silver are meticulously hammered into the grooves of the engraved design.

The silver is hammered in and the surface is buffed and smoothened to remove the extra silver jutting out.

      

After complete filing of the product, the temporary black coating is lost and the entire surface turns white again. The silver inlay work is hardly visible now.

Oxidizing:
The process of oxidizing is very unique to Bidri work. The soil from the Bidar Fort is mixed with ammonium chloride and boiling water to form a solution.

                          

When this solution is applied to the product surface, the zinc-copper alloy turns jet black, while the silver is unaffected. This black colour is permanent and does not fade. The end product is striking silver against a black background.